By Charlie Conchie
The City minister has thrown his weight behind efforts to boost the pay packets of the country’s top bosses today as a debate around pay in the City gathers steam.
The compensation of executives at the UK’s top listed firms has been a topic of hot debate in recent weeks as regulators and officials look to revive London’s flagging status as an international business hub.
In a speech today on the UK’s status as a global financial centre, organised by financial services lobby group UK Finance, City minister Andrew Griffith backed a reappraisal of executive pay in order to tempt top talent to the UK.
“Remuneration here needs to be competitive,” he said. “We want to – we need to – attract the brightest and best to the shores, and the last thing we want to do is to drive them away.”
Griffith’s comments follow warnings from London Stock Exchangechief Julia Hoggett earlier this month who said that attracting talent was “hampered by the advice and analysis of the proxy agencies and some asset managers voting against executive pay policies even when those pay levels are significantly below global benchmarks”.
The warnings have been brought into sharp relief during this year’s AGM season after a series of shareholder rebellions and warnings from proxy groups.
Glass Lewis called for shareholders to reject bosses pay plans laid out by FTSE 100 firms Unilever, Barclays and Rolls-Royce, while top shareholder advisory group ISS recommended shareholders oppose Ocado’s executive pay report. Unilever shareholders ultimately voted against the firm’s executive pay plan in the vote.
Griffith’s comments come as City grandees tasked with revitalising London’s status as a top financial centre are pushing for a reset of the cultural attitude towards bosses’ pay packets, arguing that pay at the top falls well below the amounts trousered by senior US executives.
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